Stan Taylor

Big Band Bossa Nova is a 1962 album by saxophonist Stan Getz with the Gary McFarland Orchestra. The album was arranged and conducted by Gary McFarland and produced by Creed Taylor for Verve Records. Bossa nova means ‘new wave' or ‘new trend', and this album rode that wave, making No. 13 on the Billboard album chart in 1963 in the wake of the success of Jazz Samba (1962) and prior to the release of Getz/Gilberto (1964). Sandwiched as it is between the two classic albums of the era, it sometimes gets unfairly overlooked…

Stan Harrison, born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey, and a resident of New York City for the last few decades (with a two-year stay in London tucked in there), is a saxophone player/composer who has traveled the globe performing and/or recording, sound-checking, rehearsing, bussing, flying, dining, laughing, emoting, etc., with David Bowie, Serge Gainsbourg, Radiohead, Laurie Anderson, They Might Be Giants, The Borneo Horns, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duran Duran, Taylor Mac, Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Stevie Van Zandt, and many others.

Organised jam sessions at New York's legendary Birdland Club were broadcast twice weekly during the late '40's and early '50's and a baker's dozen of tracks featuring the magnificent Miles Davis have been selected for this collection. The various pick-up line-ups included all the great jazz musicians of the era, and tenor sax genius Stan Getz can be heard here on several tracks beautifully complimenting Miles' wonderful trumpet excursions. This album has been early issued on CD under the titles "Miles Davis: The Birdland Sessions" (1994), "Miles Davis: Out Of The Blue" (1997), "Miles Davis featuring Stan Getz : Birdland Days" (1991), "Miles Davis, Stan Getz: Move" (2003).

This live follow-up to the surprise blockbuster "Getz/Gilberto" was inevitable. Interestingly, the original LP release of the October 1964 Carnegie Hall concert focused on separate sets by Getz's quartet (featuring vibist Gary Burton) and Gilberto's trio: each is as meditative and sweetly melancholic as you'd expect.

Organised jam sessions at New York's legendary Birdland Club were broadcast twice weekly during the late '40's and early '50's and a baker's dozen of tracks featuring the magnificent Miles Davis have been selected for this collection. The various pick-up line-ups included all the great jazz musicians of the era, and tenor sax genius Stan Getz can be heard here on several tracks beautifully complimenting Miles' wonderful trumpet excursions. This album has been early issued on CD under the titles "Miles Davis: The Birdland Sessions" (1994), "Miles Davis: Out Of The Blue" (1997), "Miles Davis featuring Stan Getz : Birdland Days" (1991), "Miles Davis, Stan Getz: Move" (2003).

Another one of Stan Getz's early 60s forays into the world of Brazilian music, recorded only days after his legendary sessions with João Gilberto. His special guest on this 1963 recording is virtuoso guitarist Laurindo Almeida who was famous for fusing jazz and classical guitar with traditional Brazilian genres. Almeida had done countless session gigs and was well-known to jazz fans for his work with Stan Kenton's big band in the late 1940s. The rhythm section on this album is a swinging blend of American sidemen, including Steve Kuhn on piano and George Duvivier on bass, and Brazilian percussionists.

Organised jam sessions at New York's legendary Birdland Club were broadcast twice weekly during the late '40's and early '50's and a baker's dozen of tracks featuring the magnificent Miles Davis have been selected for this collection. The various pick-up line-ups included all the great jazz musicians of the era, and tenor sax genius Stan Getz can be heard here on several tracks beautifully complimenting Miles' wonderful trumpet excursions. This album has been early issued on CD under the titles "Miles Davis: The Birdland Sessions" (1994), "Miles Davis: Out Of The Blue" (1997), "Miles Davis featuring Stan Getz : Birdland Days" (1991), "Miles Davis, Stan Getz: Move" (2003).

When Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfa surprised the Americans with their first samba recording they did not imagine that this was to be their biggest success together. With such titles such as "Desafinado" and "One Note Samba", Brazilian pop music stormed the borders. So popular was the music that voices cried for more - and the VERVE producers satisfied the fans with "Jazz Samba Encore".

This live follow-up to the surprise blockbuster "Getz/Gilberto" was inevitable. Interestingly, the original LP release of the October 1964 Carnegie Hall concert focused on separate sets by Getz's quartet (featuring vibist Gary Burton) and Gilberto's trio: each is as meditative and sweetly melancholic as you'd expect.

Credited for inspiring the bossa nova craze of the early 1960s, this recording by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd was the first in a long series of South American-influenced American music. The album features two tracks by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, works by other Brazilian composers, and compositions by famed guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba won the 1963 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance.